U.S. Healthcare Reform Updates with Maria Todd

Electronic Health Record: A Pot of gold per physician? Or just another fantasy? The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a final rule June 18 establishing a certification program for health information technology. The rule describes the temporary certification program for EHRs, and what organizations need to do to be authorized to test and certify EHR technology. Under the 2009 stimulus legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Congress enacted a major financial incentive for providers to acquire EHR systems. Total payments to doctors can be as much as $44,000 per doctor, if EHR is adapted and “meaningfully used” starting in 2011.